


Right and Wrong

by HarryFreakingPotter



Category: Alice by Heart - Sheik/Sater/Sater & Nelson
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/M, Panic Attacks, Roommates, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:15:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26926441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarryFreakingPotter/pseuds/HarryFreakingPotter
Summary: The superhero the White Rabbit finds himself falling for the elusive Wonderland
Relationships: Alfred Hallam/Alice Spencer
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	Right and Wrong

**Author's Note:**

> (as adults) sex jokes and tension ahead! blame the discord!  
> i wanna be clear that alfred is 100percent into everything alice is doing!  
> panic ttack is outlined in stars

Alice Spencer is six years old when she masters the art of playing with fire.

Her mother coos over her when she finally summons a flicker of flame in her palm, tossing it like a baseball from hand to hand, murmuring she’s always wanted a Super for a daughter. She assumes the young giggling girl will be a Hero.

She would have been, in another world. An alternate universe where her mother’s jealous boyfriend doesn’t slosh gasoline through the halls in the middle of the night and drop a match.

\-------

The Hallams have known about Alfred’s abilities since he ‘disappeared’ from the NICU, causing a hospital wide panic until they tracked his giggles right back to his incubator. 

Needless to say, it’s hard to raise a child that can disappear from sight at will.

Still, Alfred has a relatively normal upbringing. His Super-sanctioned schools teach Kant and Aristotle as well as Emerison and Arithmetic. To them, right is right and wrong is wrong. There is no space for more Villains in this world.

Alfred believes them, of course. Why wouldn’t he?

\-------

Alice is twenty-one when her roommate Tabby drops out and Alfred Hallam drops into her cramped cinder block dorm room.

He’s reasonably cute, she muses as he stutters his way through an introduction. He speaks with a slight lisp, and she smirks slightly as his mop of strawberry-blond curls shelter his vibrant brown eyes from view. 

All this wanes in the face of him being a major fucking control freak who takes exactly 52 hours to break.

“Your shit should stay on your side of the room!” He shouts, gesticulating frantically. Alice wonders idly if he has a bit of Italian in him. “And for Christ’s sake, would it kill you to clean every once in a while?”

Truth be told, she’s already in a foul mood from a shitty grade on Dante’s Inferno when he speaks up, and so she’s perhaps a little harsher than the situation grants. “I don’t have to listen to some limp-dicked rando who just barged into my life three days ago!” She automatically flickers a flame in her hand, enjoying the way his eyes widen slightly in surprise. No doubt he assumed she was Unpowered like him. Good. Ever since she was little, all anyone has ever done for her has been fueled by her flames.

Her phone buzzes slightly in her pocket, and she backs down before she has to fill out far too much paperwork about this dumbass. Her and Tabby have been working together for months on this file, compiling security rotations and necessary information. Finally, all that’s left is the execution of the plan. Literally.

She makes a show of stomping out, grabbing her ‘gym’ bag on the way out. She can deal with Roomie Ratched later.

For now, she has work to do.

\-----

Alfred slumps at his desk, shoulders shuddering. He’s definitely been too harsh on Alice. After all, her last roommate's death report had been all over the papers. Poor girl was probably still in shock.

He perks up as the police scanner begins to chatter, though. Something about a Villain called Wonderland robbing a bank. He listens as the police discuss, finally agreeing that Wonderland is too much of a security risk after _last time_. Some dark part of his brain wants to know what that entails.

If Alice can leave, so can he, he decides, pulling his ‘spare’ suitcase out from under his bed hurriedly. The White Rabbit hasn’t stretched his legs since he moved from Boston. Maybe he can help.

When he arrives at the scene, there are no flashing lights, no screeching sirens. The police have never cared about the people of this country, and they certainly won’t be starting in fucking Merit of all places.

He does, however, catch a glimpse of fire-red hair from the third-story window.

He sneaks behind the Villain slowly, hoping to catch them off guard. He hadn’t listened long enough to determine power over the radio. Hopefully they wouldn’t like, erupt into flames or freeze him with a single touch.

He was reaching for their shoulder, so close, when the trip-net closed around him.

_Well fuck. They’re smart and hot._

“So nice of you to drop in.” Wonderland purred as they circled the net, a grin evident in their voice. “What are you, a baby Hero? So cute. I can’t wait to destroy you.”

“I’m twenty-one.” He protests, feeling vaguely dizzy with the steady sway of the net back and forth. “I-fuck, is that a sword? I’m the White Rabbit, bast-bitc- pronouns? I want to properly insult you. I use he/him, for when the newspaper interviews you from jail.”

Wonderland laughs, a strangely soft, lilting sound. “You know, no Hero has ever asked that before. She/her, bunny.” She tilts her sword under his chin, smiling as he gasps audibly. “Oh, I’m going to _love_ playing with you.”

“P-playing?”

She turns away, sauntering to the fire escape. “Oh, yes, bunny. I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot more of each other. For now, though, I’m afraid I’ll have to leave you all... _hot_ and bothered.” She snickers, blowing him a fiery kiss as she leaps nimbly out the window.

\--------

Alice is on her laptop, frantically googling the White Rabbit, by the time her new roomie staggers in with a Walmart bag of clothes clutched in his paws. She sighs, rubbing her eyes as he flops onto his twin bed, staring at the ceiling. His Google search yielded a few articles of his own. Under ‘Hallam’ were twin obituaries. Perhaps she was a bit too harsh with him earlier.

“Listen, I’m-”

“I should-”

They speak at the same time, both staring at anything but the other. Alice laughs first, ignoring the crinkle in Alfred’s forehead. “Can we… start over?” She asks softly, clutching the sides of her computer a little too hard.

She can’t explain the rush of relief that floods through her when he finally nods.

\-------

The next Wonderland alert goes off a month later at 3 AM. Alfred stumbles out of bed, grateful that Alice is still at the Halloween party she’d told him about. And a little bit… not. They’d actually become… friends? Acquaintances, at the very least, after dealing with each other so much. She’d invited him, of course, but all those different allergens in one place? Hell to the no.

Still, the night is thick with discarded hay bales and candy wrappers when he conceals his bike in a bush next to the Merit Historical Museum. 

She’s waiting for him, this time, perched atop a genuine carriage from the 1800s. This is probably the one night a year she could get away with her ridiculous getup, and she’s spending it here?

“Bunny!” She chuckles as he appears, a strangely predatorial sound. “Oh, I was hoping it’d be you.”

“Wonderland.” He greets as cordially as he can, bowing low while assessing the situation.

*****

“Oh, so stuffy tonight.” Wonderland chides gently. One second she’s on her stoop, the next she’s right in front of him, shoving him down. Tendrils of fire swirl around him, unbreakable ropes keeping him kneeling in front of her. “C’mon, you’re making this too easy.”

He tries to breathe steadily, willing away the tears that spring to his eyes, but he can’t stop the rapid-fire rise and fall of his chest and the growing grating sound of his own breathing.

“Hey.” Wonderland says, concern in her voice. “Bunny, what’s wrong?” As she speaks, the flames fall away, and she gingerly helps him onto some long-dead douchebag’s couch with a crumpled ‘Do Not Touch’ sign.

“I-I’m fine.” He stammers, wiping away rogue tears. “I just-god I’m ridiculous. Heroes aren’t supposed to have panic attacks in the middle of fights.”

“Hey. Take a minute.” She says softly. 

He sits up. “No, you’ll-you’ll steal everything and escape while I’m weak. Heroes don’t let Villains get away.” 

She snorts. “You see the world very black and white, don’t you? I’m a Villain, bunny, not a monster.” She pets the hair she can reach out of his mask, combing through his almost-red curls until he can breathe again.

*****

“Okay.” He affirms, shoving her aside. “I’m good. Well, obviously. Now, what evil schemes are you committing tonight?”

“Oh, it’s done. I finished long before you got here.” She grins a little too wide, revealing strangely pointed canines. “How could I ignore my brand-new plaything, though? You got a police scanner, bunny? Notice they don't even bother?”

He flushes at her words, jumping up and turning away a little too quickly. “They're scared of you.” He mutters darkly. He turns back suddenly, eyes wide. "But I can't- I can't see why. Why do we all have to fit neatly into little boxes?"

“Aww, so sweet. I could just melt.” She smirks, caressing him softly.

He jumps back into his assigned role of Hero with all the grace of a professional actor. “I’m gonna take you out!”

“I like Thai.” She calls as she leaves, watching over her shoulder as he gapes back at her. She pauses. "You ever want a career change, bunny, you know where to find me." The last thing she sees before she leaps into the horrible venting system is his face, wrinkled in thought.

\------

Alice giggles at the movie projected on the opposite wall, shoulders shuddering with the effort to surpress her cackles. 

"This is a horror movie, Alice!" Alfred ekes out, scandalized. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

She sends a plush pillow flying across the room, grinning at the subsequent squeak that emerges as Alfred dives beneath his covers. "Calm down, sweet thing. This CGI is genuinely laughable. I mean, look at the effect on that cat- no, wait, that's actually rather good. Okay, the human CGI, at least."

"Some of us have a delicate constitution." He grumbles, wrapping himself in his blanket. "Isn't the world messed up enough already? Without all these archetypes and expectations, everyone sorted into labeled boxes?"

Something tickles at the back of her mind, but she pushes it back as she sits up. "Wanna watch Nailed it instead? I'm not really vibing with this movie anyway."

\------

Alfred isn't into Wonderland, no matter how much he may relish the flush that rises whenever she taunts him or the tightness in his throat (among other places) when she wraps him up like her own personal Christmas gift. He isn't.

Just like he's not into Alice, his loud, obnoxiously teasing roommate who makes cookies without needing an oven and never keeps her shit organized and let's him mooch off her Netflix even though most nights they end up curled together on their couch 'for warmth'.

How can he be falling for two people so completely different than the other?

\-----

Alice has lost count of the amount of times they’ve fought when she finally realizes her roommate and the White Rabbit are one and the same.

She has him tied up, as per usual, while she finishes up her business, sweettalking him all the way. Usually she can tune him out pretty well, but his whinging and whining about morality is so distracting as she fills her middle-school backpack with cash that she whirls back, forcing his chin up and making eye contact. “Either join me or shut your mouth, bunny.” She growls, relishing the fine flush creeping over him. Her voice grows softer, more sincere than her usual tough act. “You and I could make a good team, you know. Why can’t you just give up the Hero act? All these stifling constraints, all these stupid rules. You deserve so much more.”

“I-I can’t.” His voice breaks as he ducks his head, showing his birthmark, and she freezes.

Last week, she’d caught Alfred out of his usual sweatshirt on the way to the shower. They’d laughed about the constellation of moles peppering his skin that looked vaguely like- _a bunny. They looked like a bunny._

Fuck.

She stays uncharacteristically silent as she finishes, dismissing his bonds before sprinting off into the night.

\------

Alfred finally gathers the courage to kiss her when they get back from holiday break. She’s stamping off her boots, melting snowflakes twinkling in her hair and eyelashes, looking like a still from a Hallmark promo, and he just- goes for it.

She goes still for a moment, pausing just long enough to make him pull back in panic and start stuttering an apology, then cards her hands through his curls and pulls him back in.

\------

How can something so wrong feel so right?

They do everything together, nowadays. Alice has honestly never been happier than when she's holding his hands, kicking through piles of snow to clear a path for him and his 'delicate constitution' and dragging him back to the dorm.

He likes taking her to the movies, laughing at the poor acting going on onscreen. He teases her about the way her cheeks glow red whenever coverage of Wonderland and the White Rabbit's latest fight goes viral, and she does the same to him.

Whenever she's with him, it feels like she's in a dream, finally getting what she's always wanted: love. When she's wonderland, she can't stop herself from teasing him, being herself in a way she's too scared to reveal to him fully in their civilian identities. 

She can't give up her work. Wonderland goes after those who deserve it, although not all see it that way.

But she's too scared to give up him.

\------

Alfred comes to suddenly, shaking himself. Wonderland had knocked him out this time, albeit gentler than normal, with a syringe and a stab rather than her usual knock with the pommel of her sword. Something about concussion risks and the harms of the film industry?

As his vision refocuses, he shakes his head again, caught between dreams and reality. It's rather curious, actually, that she trusts him enough to take him to her lair.

She clearly can't tell he's awake, or else she would be back in disguise. Wonderland’s usual auburn hair is gone, and as she turns, whistling, the world suddenly comes into focus.

And crashes down around him.

“Alice?”

\------

They don't talk for a few weeks, until they've both had plenty of time to think. Alice spends most of her time at the pool, turning the entire community center into a sauna. When she finally staggers in from class, her eyes always catch on the titles Alfred has stacked on his desk; works like "How Bad Can I Be?" and "How to See the World in Shades of Grey."

Finally, it's him who breaks the silence, crossing the room and sitting on the foot of her bed nervously. "You should have told me, Alice."

She sits up, wrapping her arms around herself. "I know, Alfie. I'm so, so sorry. I understand if you want me to move out. Say the word, and I will never bother you again. I can vanish, and you shouldn't have to deal with me being around if you-if you-"

He catches her hands in his for once, running his fingers lightly up her arm. "I forgive you. I get it. I can't- I know I probably would've done the same. Or worse. I don't want you to disappear."

She sags with relief, trying to even out her breathing. "Okay."

"And I don't want to break up, either. In fact, I've been thinking about your... proposition."

"Oh?"

"Ia this- I want to be together, with you. I want to work with you, and I want to live with you, and I want it all; your giggles and throwing pillows and movies nights and the way you talk to me when- when- Tell me what you want. Please."

"I want you." She whispers. "I want your stupid cleanliness and your inability to watch scary movies and your horrible cooking attempts and the way you flush and stutter when you want to say things but are too embarassed and how you push through and tell me anyway. I want you."

\------

Alice curls into Alfred’s chest, humming softly. “Heads up, babe. Tabs wants to rob the bank tonight with us.” She sighs, shaking her head. Tabby is still, understandably, skeptical about Alfred switching sides. But somehow, despite everything that's happened, they trust each other. And that's all that really matters.

He whines softly. “It’s date night! Tell her she can't keep pulling this shit.”

“I know, I know. I promise, I’ll make it up to you, bunny.” Her voice drops slightly, and Alfred shudders. 

“Okay.” He whispers, snuggling back into her warmth. “Steal from the rich, then date night. Got it.”

Right and wrong are subjective terms, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> leave a comment down below!


End file.
